Vinyl

Has anyone else noticed how vinyl has become a huge trend lately? At almost any show you go to, you can almost be sure to find vinyl at the merch table.
I was at a show on wednesday and I faced the dilemma of buying vinyl or a CD. I had the CD on my iTunes that I copied from a friend, but I always feel the need of having a physical copy (something most people don't do anymore). I only had 25 bucks in cash and there wasn't an ATM in site. I bought 2 vinyls (one for me, one for my boyfriend) and they were only 12 bucks a pop. Anyway, this left me without CDs (I guess that's what the internet is for...), now the problem is having a record player. I have over 200 records and no record player...go me.
Anyway, back to bands selling more and more vinyl. Bands have also started doing "limited release" presses as well. I think by doing both of these, it's to make up for the loss of CD sales, which has probably gone way down due to people downloading their music illegally. Of course, I'm guilty of this as well, but I end up buying the albums as well. I kind of like it this way because it gives fans a variety of merch to choose from. No longer is it the boring t-shirt and CD combo. I would rather have a picture disc and a bright poster! Now I have a nice (new) vinyl collection going, I can't wait to play them when I buy a record player.